Rare Earth Orchids

[katsucats]

To give a belated update to this episode, Mr. Stephen Moffitt was very upstanding in communications, refunded me via check for the cost of the infected orchids. He tested his parent stock and found them to be virused as I had suggested, and conveyed to me that they have been destroyed as well. That would certainly reinstate some confidence to order from him again, despite the high virus rate of my order. After all, he does have a lot of species in the Catasetum alliance that are hard to come by.

[isurus79]

Stephen is great. I'm glad this was resolved amicably.

Kim- Is there another virus test kit you'd recommend other than Agdia? I know there's another competing brand from Taiwan (I believe it's Taiwan).

[Roberta]

I use the test strips from Rega, the Taiwan outfit. They come in boxes of 50 so that's the minimum order. I get them as part of a society group order - we buy enough to get a very good price break. They have some distinct advantages - longer shelf life and no refrigeration needed, require a much smaller sample - making them very useful for miniatures and seedlings. Occasional very faint positives that could be false, but also very sensitive so can be used for "group testing" of several plants (so that a negative means they're all clean)

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by Roberta

I use the test strips from Rega, the Taiwan outfit. They come in boxes of 50 so that's the minimum order. I get them as part of a society group order - we buy enough to get a very good price break. They have some distinct advantages - longer shelf life and no refrigeration needed, require a much smaller sample - making them very useful for miniatures and seedlings. Occasional very faint positives that could be false, but also very sensitive so can be used for "group testing" of several plants (so that a negative means they're all clean)

Thanks!